We all know about the existence of the Red Book. It contains rare and endangered species of flora and fauna. However, few people know that there is a Black Book of animals and plants. It contains a list of extinct and irretrievably extinct species.
Introduction
The idea of creating the Red Book of animals and plants appeared in the middle of the last century. And already in 1966 the first copy of the publication was published, which included a description of more than one hundred species of mammals, 200 species of birds, as well as more than 25 thousand plants. Thus, scientists tried to draw public attention to the problem of the disappearance of some representatives of the flora and fauna of our planet. However, such a move did not particularly help in resolving this issue. So, every year the Red Book is steadily replenished with new names of species. Few people know that there are black pages of the Red Book. The animals and plants listed on them are irrevocably extinct. Unfortunately, in the vast majority of cases this happened as a result of the unreasonable and barbaric attitude of man to the nature of our planet. The Red and Black Book of animals today is not so much a signal as a cry for help to all the people of the Earth in connection with the need to stop using natural resources exclusively for their own purposes. In addition, they carry information about the importance of a more attentive attitude towards the beautiful world around us, inhabited by a huge number of amazing and unique creatures. The Black Book of animals today covers the period from 1500 to the present day. Turning over the pages of this publication, we can be horrified to find that during this time about a thousand species of animals have completely died out, not to mention plants. Unfortunately, most of them became directly or indirectly human victims.
Black Book of Animals: List
Since it will be quite problematic to cover all species that have disappeared from our planet within the framework of one article, it is necessary to dwell on some of them. We propose to consider the extinct representatives of the fauna living on the territory of Russia, as well as outside it.
Black Book of Russia
Animals in our country today are represented by more than 1500 species. However, species diversity both in Russia and abroad is rapidly declining. This is mainly due to the fault of man. A particularly large number of species have died out over the past two centuries. Therefore, we also have the Black Book of Russia. The animals listed on its pages have become extinct. And today, many representatives of the domestic fauna can be seen except in the pictures in the encyclopedia or, at best, in the form of stuffed animals in museums. We invite you to get acquainted with some of them.
Steller Cormorant
This bird species was discovered in 1741 during an expedition to Kamchatka Vitus Bering. The cormorant got its name in honor of a naturalist by the name of Steller, who first described it in detail. Representatives of this species were large and rather slow. They settled in large colonies, and from danger they could only hide in the water. People very quickly appreciated the palatability of Steller cormorant meat. And thanks to the simplicity of bird hunting, its uncontrolled extermination began. As a result, the last Steller cormorant was killed in 1852. Only a hundred years have passed since the discovery of the species …
Steller's cow
The black book of extinct animals also describes another species discovered during the expedition of Vitus Bering in 1741. His ship, called St. Peter, was wrecked off the coast of the island, later named after the discoverer. The team was forced to stay here for the winter and eat meat from unusual animals, which they called cows because they ate exclusively sea grass. These creatures were huge and slow. Their weight often reached ten tons. The meat of sea cows was very tasty and healthy. The hunt for these harmless giants was not difficult, because the animals calmly ate algae near the coast, were not able to hide from danger in the depths and were not at all afraid of humans. As a result, after the completion of the Bering expedition, cruel hunters arrived at the islands, who exterminated the entire population of sea cows in some three decades.
Caucasian bison
The black book of animals includes such a magnificent creature as the Caucasian bison. These mammals once inhabited vast territories from the Caucasus mountains to northern Iran. The first mention of this species dates back to the XVII century. However, the number of Caucasian bison began to decline very quickly due to uncontrolled destruction of it by humans, as well as a decrease in pasture territories. So, if in the middle of the XIX century about two thousand representatives of this species lived on the territory of Russia, then after the First World War there were no more than five thousand of them left. During the civil war, the population uncontrollably destroyed the Caucasian bison due to their meat and hides. As a result, in 1920, the population of these animals numbered no more than a hundred individuals. The government urgently established a reserve to protect this species from extinction. But until its creation in 1924, only 15 Caucasian bison survived. However, the state’s protection was not able to protect them from the guns of poachers. As a result, the last three representatives of this species were killed by shepherds in 1926 on Mount Alous.
Transcaucasian Tiger
Not only harmless and vulnerable animals were exterminated by humans. The black book contains a number of rather dangerous predators, which include the Transcaucasian (or Turanian) tiger. The population of this mammalian species was completely destroyed in 1957. The Transcaucasian tiger was a rather large (weighing up to 240 kilograms) and a very beautiful predator with a long fur of bright red color. Representatives of this species lived on the territory of such modern states as Iran, Pakistan, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan (southern part) and Turkey. According to scientists, the Transcaucasian tiger is the closest relative of the Amur. The disappearance of these remarkable animals in Central Asia is associated primarily with the arrival of Russian immigrants in this territory. They considered the predator too dangerous and opened a hunt for it. So, even regular army troops were used to destroy tigers. Also, the expansion of human economic activity in the habitat of these animals played a significant role in the extinction of this species. The last Transcaucasian tiger was seen in 1957 on the territory of the USSR in Turkmenistan, near the border with Iran.
Extinct representatives of the fauna that lived outside the territory of Russia and the USSR
Now we offer to find out what information the Black Book of the world contains. The animals listed on its pages disappeared from the surface of the earth also mainly as a result of human activity.
Rodriguez Parrot
The first descriptions of this species date back to 1708. A parrot inhabited the Rodriguez in the Mascarene Islands, located 650 kilometers east of Madagascar. In length, the bird's body was about half a meter. This parrot was distinguished by a bright green-orange plumage, which ruined it. To get beautiful feathers, people began to hunt birds of this species uncontrollably. As a result, by the end of the 18th century, the parrot was completely exterminated.
Falkland fox
The population of some representatives of the fauna declined gradually, over the course of many tens or even hundreds of years. But some animals listed in the Black Book underwent a truly quick and brutal reprisal. Representatives of these unfortunate species include the Falkland fox (or the Falkland wolf). All information about this species is based only on small museum exhibits and travelers' notes. These animals inhabited the Falkland Islands. The height at the withers of these animals was sixty centimeters; they had very beautiful red-brown fur. The Falkland fox was able to bark like a dog and fed mainly on birds, larvae and carrion thrown onto the island by sea. In 1860, the Falkland Islands were captured by the Scots, who really liked the fur of the local chanterelles. They quickly began to brutally exterminate: shoot, poison, poison gas in holes. With all this, the Falkland foxes were very trusting and friendly, easily made contact with a person and could very well become excellent pets. But the last Falkland wolf was destroyed in 1876. Thus, in just 16 years, humans have completely exterminated a whole species of unique mammals. All that remains of the once-large population of Falkland foxes are eleven museum exhibits in London, Stockholm, Brussels and Leiden.
Dodo
Animals from the Black Book also have in their ranks the legendary bird with the bizarre name dodo. Many of her description is familiar from the book of Lewis Carroll, "Alice in Wonderland", where she was mentioned under the name Dodo. Dodo were quite large creatures. In height, they reached one meter, and their weight ranged from 10 to 15 kilograms. These birds did not know how to fly and moved exclusively on the ground, like, for example, ostriches. Drones had a long strong and powerful pointed beak, the length of which could reach 23 centimeters. Due to the need to move only on the surface of the earth, the legs of these birds were long and strong, while the wings were very small. These amazing animals lived on the island of Mauritius. The dodo was first described in 1598 by Dutch sailors who arrived on the island. From the moment a person appeared in their habitat, these birds became frequent victims, both of people who appreciated the taste of their meat and their pets. As a result of this attitude, the dodoes were completely destroyed. The last representative of this species was spotted in Mauritius in 1662. Thus, not even a century has passed since the Europeans discovered the dodo. It is interesting that people realized that this species no longer exists, only half a century after its disappearance from the face of the earth. The destruction of the dodo was perhaps the first precedent in history when humanity thought that people could be the cause of the extinction of entire species of animals.
Marsupial wolf tilacin
The black book of animals includes such a unique creature as the marsupial wolf. He lived in New Zealand and Tasmania. This species was the only member of the family. Thus, with his disappearance, we will never again be able to see with our own eyes a marsupial wolf. This species was first described by English researchers in 1808. In ancient times, these animals lived in the vast territories of Australia. However, later they were forced out of their natural habitat by dingo dogs. Their population was preserved only in places where dingoes were not found. At the beginning of the 19th century, the marsupial wolf was waiting for another disaster. Representatives of this species began to be massively destroyed, as it was believed that they were harmful to farms involved in sheep and chicken breeding. Due to the uncontrolled extermination of marsupial wolves, their population decreased significantly by 1863.
These animals from the Black Book were found exclusively in remote mountain areas. Perhaps this species would have managed to survive if it had not been for the epidemic of some disease at the beginning of the 20th century, quite possibly the canine plague brought here along with the immigrants' pets. Unfortunately, the marsupial wolf turned out to be susceptible to this disease, as a result of which only a tiny part of the former vast population remained alive. In 1928, representatives of this species were once again out of luck. Despite the adoption of the law on the protection of the Tasmanian fauna, the marsupial wolf was not included in the list of species protected by the government. The last wild representative of the species was killed in 1936. And six years later, the last marsupial wolf, kept in a private zoo, also died of old age. However, despite the fact that this species includes the Black Book of animals, there is a ghostly hope that some marsupial wolves still managed to survive somewhere high in the mountains in impenetrable wilds, and sooner or later they could be found to try to restore the population of these unique mammals.
Quagga
These animals were a subspecies of the zebra, however, they were noticeably different from their counterparts due to their unique color. So, the front of the animals was striped, like that of zebras, and the back was plain. In nature, they were found in South Africa. Interestingly, quagga is the only species of extinct species that has been tamed by humans. Farmers quickly appreciated the reaction rate of these zebras. So, grazing next to a herd of goats or sheep, they were the first to notice any danger, and warned the rest of their ungulates.
Because of this, they are sometimes valued more than shepherd or guard dogs. Why is man destroying such valuable animals, it is still not entirely clear to scientists. Be that as it may, the last quagga was killed in 1878.
